WO2018192343A1

WO2018192343A1 - Method for transmitting a reference signal, base station, and user equipment

Info

Publication number: WO2018192343A1
Application number: PCT/CN2018/080558
Authority: WO
Inventors: 袁璞; 罗俊; 刘瑾
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2017-04-21
Filing date: 2018-03-26
Publication date: 2018-10-25
Also published as: CN108737048B; CN108737048A; EP3579484A4; EP3579484A1; EP3579484B1; US20200052850A1; US11128420B2

Abstract

The present application discloses a method for transmitting a reference signal, a base station, and user equipment to resolve the issue of the prior art in which time-frequency resource utilization rate is low. The method comprises: a base station receiving a measurement result, transmitted by UE, for a downlink reference signal of a serving cell of the UE, the serving cell belonging to the base station; the base station determining, according to the measurement result, whether a preset switch ready condition is satisfied; and if the preset switch ready condition is satisfied, the base station instructing a neighboring cell to transmit the downlink reference signal to the UE using time-frequency resources configured by the base station, wherein the neighboring cell is not required to transmit the downlink reference signal to the UE before the neighboring cell is instructed, and the base station instructing the UE to receive the downlink reference signal using the time-frequency resources configured by the base station.

Description

Reference signal transmission method, base station, and user equipment

Technical field

The present invention relates to the field of computer and communication technologies, and in particular, to a method for transmitting a reference signal, a base station, a user equipment (English: User Equipment, UE), and a network system.

Background technique

Provide guarantees for the application of various network services. A typical scenario of mobility management is that when a UE in a radio resource control connection (English: Radio Resource Control_CONNECTED, RRC_CONNECTED) state moves between cells, it is necessary to perform cell handover in time to avoid loss of connection. The measurement based on the reference signal is a basic action in the cell handover process. The UE measures the reference signal received power (RSRP) of the reference signal transmitted by each cell at the current location, and sends the measurement result to the base station. The base station determines whether to perform cell handover on the UE according to the received measurement result and the saved handover management algorithm.

In the Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, the reference signal carrying the above function is a Cell Specific Reference Signal (CRS). In an LTE network, CRS is continuously transmitted and occupies a fixed time-frequency resource. The air interface resource between the base station and the UE is relatively tight. The existing CRS transmission mode consumes a large amount of air interface resources.

Summary of the invention

The problem.

In a first aspect, a method for transmitting a reference signal is provided, including:

Receiving, by the base station, a measurement result of a downlink reference signal sent by the UE to the serving cell of the UE, where the base station is a base station to which the serving cell belongs;

Determining, by the base station, whether a predetermined handover preparation condition is met according to the measurement result;

If the predetermined handover preparation condition is met, the base station notifies the neighboring cell to send a downlink reference signal to the UE by using the time-frequency resource configured by the base station, and the neighboring cell does not need to send a downlink reference signal to the UE before being notified. ,as well as

The base station notifies the UE to receive a downlink reference signal by using a time-frequency resource configured by the base station.

According to the method for transmitting a reference signal provided by the embodiment of the present application, the neighboring cell does not need to send the downlink reference signal to the UE before obtaining the foregoing notification by the base station to which the serving cell belongs. The neighboring cell may transmit other data using the configured resources before receiving the above notification. Through the foregoing method, each cell does not need to continuously occupy a fixed time-frequency resource to send a downlink reference signal. Therefore, the time-frequency resource used by the network side to send the downlink reference signal to the UE is saved, and the utilization of the air interface resource is improved.

In a possible implementation manner, the notifying a neighboring cell to send a downlink reference signal to the UE by using a time-frequency resource configured by the base station, including:

The base station sends a notification message to the neighboring cell, where the notification message carries the time-frequency resource information, and the time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource.

The base station to which the serving cell belongs is notified to the base station to which the neighboring cell belongs by using the time-frequency resource information of the configured time-frequency resource through the X2 interface between the base stations, so that the neighboring cell sends the downlink reference to the UE by using the configured time-frequency resource. signal. The time-frequency resource information includes time domain resource information and frequency domain resource information for indicating the RE, and the frequency domain resource information is used to indicate the subcarrier and time domain resource information to which the RE used to transmit the downlink reference signal belongs in the frequency domain. Indicates the symbol to which the RE used to transmit the downlink reference signal belongs in the time domain.

The base station notifies the neighboring cell to send the downlink reference signal to the UE by using the time-frequency resource configured by the base station in a display or implicit manner. The display notification manner includes notifying the time-frequency resource used by the UE by one or more neighboring cells through a channel such as a physical broadcast channel of the serving cell or a dedicated RRC signaling. The advantage of displaying the notification mode is that the network side and the UE can quickly learn the time-frequency resources of the notification through simple processing, and the processing resources of the base station and the UE are less expensive.

The implicit notification mode includes notifying the UE of time-frequency resources used by one or more neighboring cells by means of scrambling the PBCH of the serving cell. The advantage of the implicit notification method is that it does not need to occupy additional air interface resources, which can save air interface resources.

In a possible implementation, the base station notifies the UE to receive a downlink reference signal by using a time-frequency resource configured by the base station, including:

The base station sends the indication signaling to the UE by using a physical channel other than the physical broadcast channel of the serving cell, where the indication signaling carries the time-frequency resource information.

The base station notifies the UE of the time-frequency resource information by using a physical broadcast channel of the serving cell.

And the base station notifies the UE of the partial information in the time-frequency resource information by using a physical broadcast channel of the serving cell;

The base station sends the indication signaling to the UE by using a physical channel other than the physical broadcast channel, where the indication signaling carries the remaining information except the partial information in the time-frequency resource information.

The base station encodes the time-frequency resource information to obtain a coding result;

Inputting the encoded result into a shift register to obtain a pseudo random sequence;

The physical broadcast channel of the serving cell is scrambled using the pseudo random sequence.

The base station inputs part of the information in the coding result into a shift register to obtain a pseudo random sequence;

And the base station notifies the UE of the coding result by using a physical broadcast channel of the serving cell, and the remaining information except the part of the information, and scrambling the physical broadcast channel by using the pseudo random sequence.

The embodiment of the present application further provides another notification manner. The network side device and the UE, which are examples of the base station, store the same index table in advance. The index table stores the correspondence between the time-frequency resource information index and the time-frequency resource information. When the base station to which the serving cell belongs is notified of the configured time-frequency resource to the neighboring cell or the UE, the time-frequency resource index may be replaced by the time-frequency resource index. Since the data volume of the time-frequency resource information index is much smaller than the time-frequency resource information, the transmission resources between the base stations can be saved, and the air interface resources between the base station and the UE can be saved, thereby further improving resource utilization.

The base station sends a notification message to the neighboring cell, where the notification message carries a time-frequency resource information index, where the time-frequency resource information index is used to search for a corresponding frequency resource information index from a pre-stored index table. The time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource.

Correspondingly, the base station notifying the UE to receive the downlink reference signal by using the time-frequency resource configured by the base station, includes:

The base station sends the indication signaling to the UE, where the indication signaling carries the time-frequency resource information index.

In order to further improve the time-frequency resource utilization, after the neighboring cell sends the downlink reference signal to the UE by using the time-frequency resource configured by the base station for a period of time, the configured time-frequency resource can be reclaimed by using a specific mechanism, so that the network side can reuse the above-mentioned The configured time-frequency resource sends service data to the UE.

Specifically, in a possible implementation, after the base station notifies the UE to use the time-frequency resource configured by the base station to receive the downlink reference signal, the method further includes:

Receiving, by the base station, a measurement result obtained by measuring, by the UE, a downlink reference signal received by the configured time-frequency resource;

The base station notifies the neighboring cell to stop sending the downlink to the UE by using the configured time-frequency resource according to the measurement result obtained by the UE measuring the downlink reference signal received by the configured time-frequency resource. Reference signal.

In another possible implementation manner, the time-frequency resource information includes time domain resource information, frequency domain resource information, and valid time information, where the effective time information is used to indicate the base station configuration. The time-frequency resource is used to send a downlink reference signal. When the end time of the valid time period is reached, the neighboring cell stops using the configured time-frequency resource to send a downlink reference signal to the UE.

In a second aspect, a method for receiving a reference signal is provided, including:

The user equipment UE determines the time-frequency resource configured by the base station according to the notification of the base station, where the base station is a base station to which the serving cell of the UE belongs;

The downlink reference signal is received by using the time-frequency resource configured by the base station.

The UE provided by the embodiment of the present application can receive the downlink reference signal by using the time-frequency resource configured by the base station according to the notification of the base station to which the serving cell belongs, thereby improving the pertinence of receiving the downlink reference signal, and contributing to saving the energy consumption of the UE.

In a possible implementation, the determining, by the UE, the time-frequency resources configured by the base station according to the notification of the base station, including:

The UE receives the indication signaling sent by the base station on a physical channel other than the physical broadcast channel of the serving cell, where the indication signaling carries the time-frequency resource information, and the time-frequency resource The information is used to indicate the time-frequency resource of the configuration.

In a possible implementation, the UE determines the time-frequency resources configured by the base station according to the notification of the base station, including:

The UE receives time-frequency resource information sent by the base station in a physical physical broadcast channel of the serving cell, where the time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource.

Receiving, by the UE, part of the information in the time-frequency resource information sent by the base station in a physical broadcast channel of the serving cell;

The UE receives the indication signaling sent by the base station on a physical channel other than the physical broadcast channel of the serving cell, where the indication signaling carries the part of the time-frequency resource information The rest of the information;

The UE performs a combining process on the partial information in the time-frequency resource information and the remaining information except the partial information in the time-frequency resource information, and determines that the merge processing result is the time-frequency resource information, The time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource.

Performing a blind check on a physical physical broadcast channel of the serving cell to determine whether the physical physical broadcast channel is scrambled;

If the physical physical broadcast channel is scrambled, descrambling the scrambled physical physical broadcast channel to determine that the descrambling result is a pseudo-random sequence;

The pseudo-random sequence is decoded to determine the decoding result as the time-frequency resource information, and the time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource.

Decoding the pseudo random sequence, and determining that the decoding result is part of the information in the time-frequency resource information;

Acquiring the indication signaling sent in the descrambled physical physical broadcast channel, where the indication signaling carries the remaining information except the partial information in the time-frequency resource information;

Receiving an indication instruction sent by the base station, where the indication signaling carries the time-frequency resource information index;

The time-frequency resource information corresponding to the time-frequency resource information index is searched from the stored index table, where the time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

The UE measures the downlink reference signal received on the configured time-frequency resource, and reports the measurement result to the base station. The base station to which the serving cell belongs is configured to confirm whether the previously configured time-frequency resource is reclaimed according to the measurement result that is measured by the UE and the downlink reference signal received on the configured time-frequency resource, thereby further improving resource utilization. .

In a third aspect, a base station is provided, the base station being a base station to which the serving cell of the UE belongs, the device having the function of implementing the method of the first aspect or any one of the foregoing possible implementation manners. The functions may be implemented by hardware or by corresponding software implemented by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above.

In a fourth aspect, a UE is provided, the UE having the function of implementing the method of the second aspect described above or any one of the possible implementation manners of the foregoing second aspect. The functions may be implemented by hardware or by corresponding software implemented by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above.

In a fifth aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a computer storage medium, configured to store computer software instructions used by the packet forwarding device, including any one of the foregoing first aspect or the foregoing first aspect. The program designed to achieve this.

In a sixth aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a computer storage medium, configured to store computer software instructions used by the packet forwarding device, including any one of the foregoing second aspect or the second aspect. The program designed to achieve this.

In a seventh aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a system for transmitting a reference signal, where the system includes the base station according to the third aspect, and the UE according to the fourth aspect.

DRAWINGS

1A is a flowchart of a method for adding an application icon in a folder according to an embodiment of the present invention;

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly described below. It is obvious that the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present application. Those skilled in the art can also obtain other drawings based on these drawings without paying any creative work.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a scenario applied to a method for transmitting a reference signal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

2 is a flowchart of a method for transmitting a reference signal according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of another method for transmitting a reference signal according to an embodiment of the present application;

4 is a flowchart of a method for transmitting a reference signal according to another embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method for sending a reference signal according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method for transmitting a reference signal according to another embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a method for sending a reference signal according to another embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a method for sending a reference signal according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a method for transmitting a reference signal according to another embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a base station according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a base station according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a UE according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

detailed description

For the problem that the existing CRS transmission mode has a high consumption of air interface resources, the embodiment of the present application provides a transmission scheme of a reference signal. In this solution, the network side device does not need to use the fixed time-frequency resource to continuously transmit the downlink reference signal, but uses the configurable time-frequency resource to transmit the downlink reference signal in a part of the time period according to requirements. Illustratively, the network side device, which is an example of a base station, determines that a time-frequency resource for transmitting a downlink reference signal is configured for a cell, and indicates that at least one cell is in a shorter time according to the configuration information, according to an actual situation, when it is confirmed that the downlink reference signal needs to be sent. The downlink reference signal is transmitted internally. When the downlink reference signal is not required to be sent, the time-frequency resource used for transmitting the downlink reference signal can be used to transmit other data, thereby saving the time-frequency resource used for transmitting the downlink reference signal and improving the utilization of the air interface resource.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application. For the sake of brevity, an exemplary description is made only with the base station 1, the base station 2, and the UE. The base station 1 is a base station to which the current serving cell of the UE belongs, and the base station 2 is a base station to which the neighboring cell of the UE belongs. The present embodiment mainly focuses on a scenario in which the current serving cell and the neighboring cell of the UE belong to different base stations, although the current serving cell and the neighboring cell of the UE may belong to the same base station. The base station 1 and the base station 2 exchange signaling through the X2 interface. In the embodiment of the present application, the serving cell refers to a cell that provides uplink and downlink data transmission for the UE.

Optionally, the UE in FIG. 1 is in an RRC_CONNECTED state, a Radio Resource Control_IDLE, RRC_IDLE state, or a Radio Resource Control_Inactive (RRC_Inactive) state. The RRC_CONNECTED state and the RRC_IDLE state may refer to the description in the LTE standard. The RRC_Inactive state is a state that is still under discussion in the New Radio (NR) standard. The UE in the RRC_Inactive state has the following feature: The network side retains context information of the UE in RRC_INACTIVE. The base station and the core network reserve connection information of the UE in RRC_INACTIVE. The network side can know the location of the UE in the RRC_INACTIVE state at the RNA layer, that is, the network layer can know which RNA the UE is in. When the UE in RRC_INACTIVE moves out of the RNA before it, the network side can be aware. The base station 1 can transmit information to the UE by means of a broadcast channel, dedicated signaling, or the like.

2 is a flowchart of a method for transmitting a reference signal provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method for transmitting the reference signal will be mainly described from the perspective of the base station to which the current serving cell of the UE belongs, that is, the base station 1 in FIG. The base station in the following embodiments refers to the base station to which the current serving cell of the UE belongs, unless otherwise specified.

Step 21: The base station receives a measurement result of a downlink reference signal sent by the UE to the serving cell of the UE, where the base station is a base station to which the serving cell of the UE belongs.

The downlink reference signal is pre-defined and occupies certain resource particles (English: Resource Element, RE) in the time-frequency resource grid. RE is the smallest time-frequency resource unit in an LTE network. Each antenna port of the base station corresponds to a different time-frequency resource grid and corresponds to a reference signal, wherein the time-frequency resource grid describes the position of one or more REs in the time domain and the frequency domain in a two-dimensional grid manner. . The time-frequency resources corresponding to different ports are different. The time-frequency resource information may be indicated by the time-frequency resource information, where the time-frequency resource information includes time domain resource information and frequency domain resource information for indicating the RE, and the frequency domain resource information is used to indicate the RE frequency used for transmitting the downlink reference signal. The subcarrier and time domain resource information to which the domain belongs is used to indicate the information of the symbol to which the RE used to transmit the downlink reference signal belongs in the time domain. The location of the RE used to transmit the downlink reference signal in the time domain frequency domain can be determined by the time domain resource information and the frequency domain resource information.

Optionally, the time-frequency resource information further includes beam indication information, where the beam indication information is used to indicate a beam used by the UE when receiving the reference signal. In order to facilitate the UE to receive the downlink reference signal on the beam in the specified direction, the neighboring cell sends the downlink reference signal on the corresponding beam. The UE receives the reference signal using beamforming techniques to obtain a gain effect in a particular direction.

For downlink, the set of antenna ports supported by a cell depends on the reference signal configuration of the cell.

Optionally, the downlink reference signal includes the following types: a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), a UE-specific reference signal (English: UE-specific reference signal), and a positioning reference signal. :Positioning reference signal) and channel state information reference signal (English: Channel State Information-Reference Signals, CSI-RS). The purpose of the CSI-RS is to support channel quality feedback for multiple antenna ports. The CSI-RS reference signal sequence consists of a series of reference symbols, each of which occupies one RE.

Optionally, the downlink reference signal of the serving cell in the embodiment of the present application is a CSI-RS. For all UEs within one cell coverage, the CSI-RS sequences transmitted by the cells are the same, and the time-frequency resources used for transmitting CSI-RS sequences to each UE are different. For example, CSI-RS sequence

It can be calculated according to formula (1).

Where c in equation (1) can be calculated by equation (2)

C _init is a pseudo-random sequence initialization, n _s is a slot number in a system frame, the value ranges from 0 to 19, and l is a symbol number in a slot.

It is a cell identifier, such as a physical cell identifier (English: Physical Cell Identifier, PCI).

The serving cell uses the system information (English: System Information, SI), such as the main information block (English: MasterInformationBlock, MIB) or the system information block (English: SystemInformationBlock, SIB), and uses the time-frequency resource used by the downlink reference signal transmitted by the serving cell. The information is informed to the UE. The UE measures the RSRP of the serving cell, that is, the UE receives the average value of the downlink reference signal power of the serving cell on the specified time-frequency resource, and reports the measurement result to the base station of the serving cell.

Step 22: The base station determines, according to the measurement result received in step 21, whether the handover preparation condition is met. Optionally, the handover preparation condition may be configured according to an actual situation. For example, the handover preparation condition may be that the signal quality of the serving cell is lower than a set threshold, and the time that is lower than the set threshold exceeds a predetermined time. The base station confirms whether the handover preparation condition is met according to the measurement result reported by the UE. The confirmation that the handover preparation condition is satisfied may be regarded as a trigger event in which the base station configures the neighboring cell to configure the time-frequency resource for transmitting the downlink reference signal.

If the handover preparation condition is satisfied, steps 23 and 24 are performed. If the handover preparation condition is not met, the process returns to step 21, and the base station continues to receive the measurement result of the downlink reference signal of the serving cell reported by the UE.

Step 23: The base station notifies the neighboring cell to send the downlink reference signal to the UE by using the time-frequency resource configured by the base station.

The base station stores time-frequency resource information that is currently available for the network side to transmit the downlink reference signal. When the handover preparation condition is met, the base station configures one or more neighboring cells to respectively allocate time-frequency resources for transmitting the downlink reference signal to the UE. The base station can notify the base station to which the neighboring cell belongs by using the configured time-frequency resource through the X2 interface. Taking two neighboring cells as an example, the base station to which the serving cell belongs informs the base station to which the neighboring cell 1 belongs, and allocates the time-frequency resource allocated to the neighboring cell 1 to the neighboring cell 2 through the X2 interface between the base stations. The time-frequency resource informs the base station to which the neighboring cell 2 belongs. The neighboring cell does not need to send a downlink reference signal to the UE before obtaining the notification of the base station.

In the embodiment of the present application, the neighboring cell is determined by the base station to which the serving cell belongs for the UE. Optionally, in the network planning, the relative positional relationship between the cells is determined, for example, the network planner designs the network topology. Of course, during network operation, the network topology can also update the network topology as needed. The serving cell may determine a neighboring cell according to a network topology, and the neighboring cell may be another cell in a physical location adjacent to the serving cell.

The base station to which the neighboring cell belongs, after receiving the notification from the base station to which the serving cell belongs, receives the antenna port according to the notification, so that the neighboring cell sends the downlink reference signal to the UE on the configured time-frequency resource. Optionally, the downlink reference signal is a CSI-RS.

Step 24: The base station notifies the UE to receive the downlink reference signal by using the time-frequency resource configured by the base station.

Optionally, the base station notifies the neighboring cell to send the downlink reference signal to the UE by using the time-frequency resource configured by the base station in a display or implicit manner.

Optionally, the manner of displaying the notification in the embodiment includes: using a channel such as a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) of the serving cell, or a dedicated RRC signaling to notify the UE that one or more neighboring cells respectively use the Time-frequency resources. The advantage of displaying the notification mode is that the network side and the UE can quickly learn the time-frequency resources of the notification through simple processing, and the processing resources of the base station and the UE are less expensive. However, it is necessary to occupy the air interface resources, and the air interface resources have a large overhead.

The implicit notification mode includes notifying the UE of time-frequency resources used by one or more neighboring cells by means of scrambling the PBCH of the serving cell. The UE can learn the time-frequency resources used by one or more neighboring cells by blind detection, decoding, and the like. The advantage of the implicit notification method is that it does not need to occupy additional air interface resources, which can save air interface resources. However, in the implicit notification mode, the processing process of the transmitted data by the network side and the UE is complicated, and the processing of resources by the base station and the UE is more expensive.

For the UE, the UE determines the time-frequency resource configured by the base station according to the notification of the base station to which the serving cell belongs, and receives the downlink reference signal by using the time-frequency resource configured by the base station. Optionally, the UE measures the received downlink reference signal, and reports the measurement result to the base station.

According to the method for transmitting a reference signal provided by the embodiment of the present application, the base station to which the serving cell belongs receives the measurement result of the downlink reference signal sent by the UE to the serving cell of the UE. When the base station confirms that the predetermined handover preparation condition is met according to the measurement result, the neighboring cell is notified to use the time-frequency resource configured by the base station to send a downlink reference signal to the UE, and notifies the UE to use the time-frequency resource configured by the base station to receive the downlink. Reference signal. The neighboring cell does not need to send a downlink reference signal to the UE before obtaining the foregoing notification of the base station to which the serving cell belongs. The neighboring cell may transmit other data using the configured resources before receiving the above notification. Through the foregoing method, the network side may configure each cell to send a downlink reference signal to the UE at a specified interval, and each cell does not need to continuously occupy a fixed time-frequency resource to send a downlink reference signal. Therefore, the time-frequency resource used by the network side to send the downlink reference signal to the UE is saved, and the utilization of the air interface resource is improved.

Optionally, after the neighboring cell sends the downlink reference signal to the UE by using the time-frequency resource configured by the base station for a period of time, the configured time-frequency resource may be reclaimed by using a specific mechanism, so that the network side can reuse the configured time-frequency resource. Send service data to the UE to improve resource utilization. The network side can recover the configured time-frequency resources in the following ways.

In a first mode, the base station notifies the neighboring cell to stop using the configured time-frequency resource to send to the UE according to the measurement result of the measurement result obtained by the UE on the downlink reference signal received by the configured time-frequency resource. Downlink reference signal.

Referring to FIG. 3, after step 23 and step 24 in FIG. 2, the method further includes:

Step 25: The base station receives a measurement result that is measured by the UE on the downlink reference signal received by the configured time-frequency resource.

Step 26: The base station determines, according to the measurement result received in step 25, whether the resource reclaim condition is met. Resource recovery conditions can be configured according to actual conditions. Including but not limited to the following:

Resource Retrieval Condition 1: According to the measurement result received in step 24, it is determined that cell handover is required.

Resource Recovery Condition 2: According to the measurement result received in step 24, it is determined that the UE stays at a fixed position. For example, if the measurement result of each cell changes by less than the set threshold within a certain period of time, the UE may be considered to be in a fixed position.

Resource recovery condition 3: According to the measurement result received in step 24, it is determined that the signal quality of the neighboring cell is poor, and no handover is needed. For example, if the signal quality of the neighboring cell is lower than the set threshold of the serving cell and the time when the serving cell exceeds the set threshold exceeds the set duration, the signal quality of the neighboring cell may be considered to be poor.

If the resource reclaim condition is met, go to step 27. If the resource reclaim condition is not met, return to step 25 and continue to wait to receive the measurement report.

Step 27: The base station notifies the neighboring cell to stop using the configured time-frequency resource to send a downlink reference signal to the UE. For example, the base station may notify the neighboring cell of the measurement stop instruction through the X2 interface between the base stations. After receiving the measurement stop command, the neighboring cell stops using the previously configured time-frequency resource to send the downlink reference signal to the UE.

In the second mode, in step 23 of FIG. 2, when the base station notifies the neighboring cell to use the time-frequency resource configured by the base station to send the downlink reference signal to the UE, the measurement termination time is carried in the time-frequency resource information to notify the neighbor. Community.

Specifically, the time-frequency resource information includes not only the time domain resource information and the frequency domain resource information, but also the effective time information, where the valid time information is used to indicate the time when the time-frequency resource configured by the base station is used to send the downlink reference signal. And, when the end time of the valid time period is reached, the neighboring cell stops sending the downlink reference signal to the UE by using the configured time-frequency resource. Exemplarily, the effective time information is 70 ms, and after receiving the time-frequency resource information, the neighboring cell starts to send the downlink reference signal to the UE by using the configured time-frequency resource. And set the timer when starting to send the downlink reference signal, the duration of the timer is set to 70ms. When the time set by the timer expires, the configuration of the time-frequency resource is stopped to send a downlink reference signal to the UE.

In the third mode, the neighboring cells are configured to send the downlink reference signal to the UE by using the configured time-frequency resource after the scheduled time-frequency resource is used to send the downlink reference signal to the UE for a predetermined time. Specifically, the network side pre-configures the duration of the downlink reference signal transmitted by each base station. Exemplarily, all base stations start to send a downlink reference signal to the UE by using the configured time-frequency resource after receiving the notification of the base station to which the serving cell belongs as shown in step 23 in FIG. 2 by default. And set a timer when starting to send the downlink reference signal, for example, the duration of the timer can be set to 50ms. When the time set by the timer expires, the configuration of the time-frequency resource is stopped to send a downlink reference signal to the UE.

With reference to step 23 in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the base station notifies the neighboring cell to use the time-frequency resource configured by the base station to send a downlink reference signal to the UE, and the embodiment of the present application further provides multiple specific notification modes. Correspondingly, with reference to step 24 in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the base station notifies the UE to receive the downlink reference signal by using the time-frequency resource configured by the base station, and the embodiment of the present application also provides multiple specific notification modes. The specific notification manner will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 4 to 9. In the method for transmitting a reference signal shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5, and FIG. 6, the base station to which the serving cell belongs is to notify the UE of the time-frequency resource information in an explicit manner. In the method for transmitting a reference signal shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the base station to which the serving cell belongs is to notify the UE of the time-frequency resource information in an implicit manner.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for transmitting a reference signal according to an embodiment of the present application.

Step 40: The base station sends a downlink reference signal to the UE through the serving cell. In this embodiment, the base station is a base station to which the serving cell of the UE belongs. Optionally, the downlink reference signal is a CSI-RS.

Step 41: The base station receives a measurement result of a downlink reference signal sent by the UE to the serving cell of the UE. In this embodiment, the base station refers to a base station to which the serving cell of the UE belongs, unless otherwise stated.

The implementation of the steps 40 and 41 is substantially similar to the step 21 of FIG. 2, and the description of the step 21 in FIG. 2 can be referred to the previous embodiment, and details are not described herein again.

Step 42: The base station determines, according to the measurement result received in step 41, whether the handover preparation condition is met. The implementation of the step 42 is substantially similar to the step 22 in FIG. 2, and the description of the step 22 in FIG. 2 can be referred to the previous embodiment, and details are not described herein again. If the handover preparation condition is satisfied, steps 43 and 44 are performed. If the handover preparation condition is not met, the process returns to step 40, that is, the base station continues to send the downlink reference signal to the UE through the serving cell, and receives the measurement result obtained by the UE measuring the reference signal sent by the serving cell.

Step 43: The base station sends a notification message to the neighboring cell, where the notification message carries time-frequency resource information, where the time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource.

Referring to the description in step 23 of FIG. 2, the base station configures a neighboring cell with a time-frequency resource for transmitting a downlink reference signal to the UE. The time-frequency resource information for indicating the configured time-frequency resource is then carried in the notification message, and the notification message is sent to the base station to which the neighboring cell belongs by using the X2 interface between the base stations. The notification message is used to notify the neighboring cell to send a downlink reference signal to the UE by using a time-frequency resource indicated by the time-frequency resource information.

Optionally, the notification message not only carries the time-frequency resource information, but also carries the identifier of the neighboring cell, so as to establish a correspondence between the neighboring cell and the time-frequency resource information after the base station to which the neighboring cell belongs receives the notification message. Then, the port of the neighboring cell is configured, and the downlink reference signal is sent to the UE by using the time-frequency resource indicated by the time-frequency resource information. For example, the base station to which the serving cell belongs generates a notification message, and the notification message carries time-frequency resource information corresponding to the time-frequency resource allocated to the neighboring cell 1, and the identifier of the neighboring cell 1. The base station to which the serving cell belongs sends the generated notification message to the base station to which the neighboring cell 1 belongs through the X2 interface. The neighboring cell does not need to send a downlink reference signal to the UE before obtaining the notification message.

Step 44: The base station sends the indication signaling to the UE by using a physical channel other than the PBCH of the serving cell, where the indication signaling carries the time-frequency resource information. For a description of the time-frequency resource information, please refer to the description in the previous embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the indication signaling is an RRC message. Specifically, in the LTE network, the indication signaling in the form of the RRC message can be sent to the UE through the SIB. For the time-frequency resources occupied by the SIB, refer to the related standard document. In the NR network in question, the indication signaling in the form of RRC message can also be sent to the UE through the remaining minimum system information (RMSI), where the RMSI can pass the PBCH or the physical downlink control channel. (Physical Downlink Control Channel, PDCCH) transmission; indication signaling in the form of RRC message can also be sent to the UE through the remaining system information (OSI), and the OSI can use the physical downlink shared channel (English: Physical Downlink Shared Channel) , PDSCH) transmission.

The indication signaling is used to notify the UE to receive the downlink reference signal by using the time-frequency resource indicated by the time-frequency resource information.

For the UE, the UE receives the indication signaling sent by the base station on a physical channel other than the PBCH of the serving cell. The UE receives the downlink reference signal by using the time-frequency resource indicated by the time-frequency resource information, and performs measurement on the received downlink reference signal, and reports the measurement result to the base station.

Optionally, the indication signaling in the form of the RRC message not only carries the time-frequency resource information, but also carries the identifier of the neighboring cell, so that the UE measures the reference signal received on the time-frequency resource indicated by the time-frequency resource information, and obtains After the measurement result, the measurement result and the neighboring cell identifier are reported to the network side. Of course, the RRC message may not carry the identifier of the neighboring cell, and the UE may report the measurement result and the time-frequency resource information to the network side, because the base station to which the serving cell belongs stores the identifier of the neighboring cell and the time-frequency resource used for indicating the configuration. The correspondence between the time-frequency resource information and the base station can still confirm the correspondence between the measurement result and the identifier of the neighboring cell.

Optionally, in order to improve the time-frequency resource utilization, when the neighboring cell sends the downlink reference information to the UE by using the configured time-frequency resource for a period of time, the network side may reclaim the configured time-frequency resource for transmitting other data. . The recovery of time-frequency resources can take many forms, as described in the previous embodiments. This embodiment is described only in the first mode. After step 43 and step 44, step 45 is performed.

Step 45: The base station receives a measurement result obtained by the UE measuring the downlink reference signal received by the configured time-frequency resource. In addition to the reported measurement result, the UE should report the neighboring cell identifier or the time-frequency resource information used to indicate the time-frequency resource occupied by the downlink reference signal on which the measurement result is generated. In this way, the base station can confirm the correspondence between the measurement result and the neighboring cell.

Step 46: The base station determines, according to the measurement result received in step 45, whether the resource reclaim condition is met. If the resource reclaim condition is met, go to step 47. If the resource reclaim condition is not met, then return to step 45 and continue to wait to receive the measurement report. For the related content of the resource recovery condition, please refer to the description in the previous embodiment, and details are not described herein again.

Step 47: The base station notifies the neighboring cell to stop using the configured time-frequency resource to send a downlink reference signal to the UE.

Steps 46 and 47 are similar to

steps

26 and 27 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3. Reference may be made to the description of step 26 and step 27 in FIG. 3 with reference to the previous embodiment, and details are not described herein again.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method for transmitting a reference signal according to an embodiment of the present application. The base station notifies the UE of the configured time-frequency resource information through the PBCH, that is, step 44 in FIG. 4 can also be replaced by step 54. Step 50, step 51, step 52, and step 53 in FIG. 5 are similar to steps 40, 41, 42 and 43 in FIG. 4, respectively, and the description of the steps in FIG. 4 can be referred to the previous embodiment. , will not repeat them here.

Step 54: The base station notifies the UE of the time-frequency resource information by using a PBCH of the serving cell. For a description of the time-frequency resource information, please refer to the description in the previous embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the indication signaling is an RRC message. Specifically, in the LTE network, the indication signaling in the form of an RRC message may be sent to the UE through the MIB. The MIB can be transmitted over the PBCH.

For the UE, the time-frequency resource information sent by the base station is received in the PBCH of the serving cell. The UE receives the downlink reference signal by using the time-frequency resource indicated by the time-frequency resource information, and performs measurement on the received downlink reference signal, and reports the measurement result to the base station.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method for transmitting a reference signal according to an embodiment of the present application. The base station divides the time-frequency resource information into at least two parts, and notifies the UE of the partial time-frequency resource information through the PBCH, and notifies the UE of the remaining time-frequency resource information through other physical channels. That is, step 44 in FIG. 4 can also be replaced by step 641, step 642 and step 643. Step 60, step 61, step 62, and step 63 in FIG. 5 are similar to step 40, step 41, step 42, step 43 in FIG. 4, respectively, and the description of the steps in FIG. 4 can be referred to the previous embodiment. , will not repeat them here.

Step 641: The base station divides time-frequency resource information used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource into two parts, for example, the first part information and the second part information.

Step 642: The base station notifies the UE of the partial information in the time-frequency resource information by using the PBCH of the serving cell.

Step 643: The base station sends the indication signaling to the UE, where the indication signaling carries the remaining information except the partial information in the time-frequency resource information.

For example, the base station carries part of the information (such as the first part of the information) in the time-frequency resource information in the first indication signaling in the form of the RRC message, and sends the first indication signaling to the UE through the MIB. The MIB can be transmitted over the PBCH. The base station sends the second indication signaling to the UE, where the second indication signaling carries the remaining information (such as the second part information) of the time-frequency resource information except the partial information. Referring to the related description of step 44 in FIG. 4, the second indication signaling may be sent to the UE through the SIB, the RMSI or the OSI, and the second indication signaling carrying the second partial information is transmitted through the PDCCH. I will not repeat them here.

For the UE, the UE receives part of the information in the time-frequency resource information sent by the base station in the PBCH of the serving cell. The UE receives the indication signaling sent by the base station on a physical channel other than the PBCH of the serving cell, where the indication signaling carries the time-frequency resource information except the part information. The rest of the information. The UE performs a combining process on the partial information in the time-frequency resource information and the remaining information except the partial information in the time-frequency resource information, and determines that the merge processing result is the time-frequency resource information. The UE receives the downlink reference signal by using the time-frequency resource indicated by the time-frequency resource information, and performs measurement on the received downlink reference signal, and reports the measurement result to the base station.

In the method for transmitting a reference signal shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5, and FIG. 6, the base station to which the serving cell belongs is to notify the UE of the time-frequency resource information in an explicit manner. A scheme in which several base stations to which a serving cell belongs to notify the UE of time-frequency resource information in an implicit manner will be described below with reference to FIG. 7 and FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of another method for transmitting a reference signal according to an embodiment of the present application. The base station scrambles the PBCH according to the time-frequency resource information, thereby notifying the UE of the time-frequency resource information. That is, step 44 in FIG. 4 can also be replaced by step 741, step 742 and step 743. Step 70, step 71, step 72, and step 73 in FIG. 7 are similar to step 40, step 41, step 42, step 43 in FIG. 4, respectively, and the description of the steps in FIG. 4 can be referred to the previous embodiment. , will not repeat them here.

Step 741: The base station encodes time-frequency resource information used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource, and obtains a coding result.

Optionally, an example of a time-frequency resource information encoding format is given below, which specifically defines the meaning of each bit in the encoding, and is used for illustrative purposes only, and does not impose restrictions on a specific encoding format.

Example 1: The time-frequency resource information is indicated by 10 bits: 1010 0100 01. The 2 bits of the lower bit (starting from the right) indicate the number of neighboring cells, which is 01 in this example, indicating that only the time-frequency resource information of one neighboring cell is carried. The 0100 of the 3rd to 6th bits indicates that the neighboring cell 1 is configured to transmit the downlink reference signal in the time domain, and the 7th to 10th bits indicate that the neighboring cell 1 is configured to transmit the downlink reference signal in the frequency domain. position.

Example 2: Indicated by 18-bit time-frequency resource information: 1010 0100 1011 1100 10. The lower 2 bits indicate the number of neighboring cells, which is 10 in this example, indicating that the time-frequency resource information of two neighboring cells is carried. The 3 to 6 bits indicate that the neighboring cell 1 is configured to transmit the downlink reference signal in the time domain, and the 7 to 10 bits indicate that the neighboring cell 2 is configured to transmit the downlink reference signal in the time domain, 11 to The 14bit indication indicates that the neighboring cell 1 is configured to transmit the downlink reference signal in the frequency domain, and the 15 to 18bit indicates that the neighboring cell 2 is configured to transmit the downlink reference signal in the frequency domain.

Step 742: The base station inputs the coding result into a shift register to obtain a pseudo random sequence.

Step 743: The base station scrambles the PBCH of the serving cell by using the pseudo random sequence.

For the UE, a blind check is performed on the PBCH of the serving cell to determine whether the PBCH is scrambled. If the PBCH is scrambled, the scrambled PBCH is descrambled to determine that the descrambling result is a pseudo-random sequence. Decoding the pseudo random sequence to determine a decoding result as the time-frequency resource information. The UE receives the downlink reference signal by using the time-frequency resource indicated by the time-frequency resource information, and performs measurement on the received downlink reference signal, and reports the measurement result to the base station.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of another method for transmitting a reference signal according to an embodiment of the present application. The base station to which the serving cell belongs informs the UE of the time-frequency resource information by combining the explicit and the implicit, that is, a part of the time-frequency resource information is sent to the UE through the PBCH, and the PBCH is scrambled by using the remaining time-frequency resource information. That is, step 44 in FIG. 4 can also be replaced by step 841, step 842 and step 843. Step 80, step 81, step 82, and step 83 in FIG. 8 are similar to step 40, step 41, step 42, step 43 in FIG. 4, respectively, and the description of the steps in FIG. 4 can be referred to the previous embodiment. , will not repeat them here. This embodiment focuses on steps 841, 842, and 843.

Step 841: The base station encodes time-frequency resource information used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource, and obtains a coding result.

Step 842: The base station inputs part of the information in the coding result into a shift register to obtain a pseudo random sequence. Optionally, the base station divides the coding result into two parts, such as first part information and second part information. The base station inputs the first part of information into the shift register to obtain a pseudo-random sequence.

Step 843, the base station notifies the UE of the coding result by using the PBCH of the serving cell, and the remaining information except the partial information, and scrambling the PBCH by using the pseudo random sequence.

Illustratively, the base station transmits the indication signaling carrying the second partial information to the UE through the PBCH of the serving cell, and scrambles the PBCH using a pseudo random sequence.

For the UE, a blind check is performed on the PBCH of the serving cell to determine whether the PBCH is scrambled. If the PBCH is scrambled, the UE descrambles the scrambled PBCH to determine that the descrambling result is a pseudo-random sequence. The UE decodes the pseudo random sequence, and determines that the decoding result is part of the information in the time-frequency resource information. The UE further performs the decoding of the descrambled PBCH, and obtains the indication signaling sent in the PBCH, where the indication signaling carries the remaining information except the partial information in the time-frequency resource information. The UE performs a combining process on the partial information in the time-frequency resource information and the remaining information except the partial information in the time-frequency resource information, and determines that the merge processing result is the time-frequency resource information. The UE receives the downlink reference signal by using the time-frequency resource indicated by the time-frequency resource information, and performs measurement on the received downlink reference signal, and reports the measurement result to the base station.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of another method for transmitting a reference signal according to an embodiment of the present application. Different from the method for transmitting the reference signal shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 8 , the network side device and the UE, which are exemplified by the base station, store the same index table in advance, and store the time-frequency resource information index and the time-frequency resource in the index table. Correspondence of information. When the base station to which the serving cell belongs is notified of the configured time-frequency resource to the neighboring cell or the UE, the time-frequency resource index may be used instead of the time-frequency resource information in the foregoing embodiments. FIG. 9 focuses on the method of transmitting the reference signal from the perspective of the base station to which the serving cell belongs. Without explanation, the base station refers to the base station to which the serving cell belongs.

Step 90: The base station sends a downlink reference signal to the UE through the serving cell. In this embodiment, the base station is a base station to which the serving cell of the UE belongs. Optionally, the downlink reference signal is a CSI-RS.

Step 91: The base station receives a measurement result of a downlink reference signal sent by the UE to the serving cell of the UE.

The implementation of the steps 90 and 91 is substantially similar to the step 21 of FIG. 2, and the description of the step 21 in FIG. 2 can be referred to the previous embodiment, and details are not described herein again.

Step 92: The base station determines, according to the measurement result received in step 91, whether the handover preparation condition is met. The implementation of the step 92 is substantially similar to the step 22 in FIG. 2, and the description of the step 22 in FIG. 2 can be referred to the previous embodiment, and details are not described herein again. If the handover preparation condition is satisfied, step 93 and step 94 are performed. If the handover preparation condition is not met, the process returns to step 90, that is, the base station continues to send the downlink reference signal to the UE through the serving cell, and receives the measurement result obtained by the UE measuring the reference signal sent by the serving cell.

Step 93: The base station sends a notification message to the neighboring cell, where the notification message carries an index of time-frequency resource information. The time-frequency resource information index is used to search for time-frequency resource information corresponding to the time-frequency resource information index from the pre-stored index table, where the time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource. Table 1 is an example of an index table provided by an embodiment of the present application.

Table 1

Time-frequency resource information index Time-frequency resource information Port number

1 (k1,l1) port1

2 (k2,l2) port2

3 (K3, l3) port4

4 (K4, l4) Port8

The k1, k2, k3 or k4 in Table 1 is used to indicate the position of the RE in the frequency domain, and l1, l2, l3 or l4 is used to indicate the position of the RE in the time domain.

Referring to the description in step 23 of FIG. 2, the base station configures a neighboring cell with a time-frequency resource for transmitting a downlink reference signal to the UE. The base station searches the index table shown in Table 1 for the time-frequency resource information index corresponding to the time-frequency resource information of the configured time-frequency resource, and then carries the found time-frequency resource information index in the notification message, and the base station The X2 interface sends a notification message to the base station to which the neighboring cell belongs. The notification message is used to notify the neighboring cell to send a downlink reference signal to the UE by using a time-frequency resource indicated by the time-frequency resource information.

Optionally, the notification message carries not only time-frequency resource information but also an identifier of the neighboring cell. Please refer to the detailed description of step 43 in FIG.

For example, the time-frequency resource information of the time-frequency resource allocated by the base station to which the serving cell belongs to the neighboring cell 1 is (k1, l1), and the corresponding time-frequency resource information index in the index table is 1. The base station generates a notification message, where the notification message carries the time-frequency resource information index 1, and the identifier of the neighboring cell 1. The base station to which the serving cell belongs sends the generated notification message to the base station to which the neighboring cell 1 belongs through the X2 interface. After receiving the notification message, the neighboring cell 1 searches for the corresponding time-frequency resource information from the index table according to the time-frequency resource information index 1 as (k1, l1), when the time-frequency resource information (k1, l1) indicates The downlink reference signal is sent to the UE on the frequency resource. The neighboring cell 1 does not need to send a downlink reference signal to the UE before obtaining the notification message.

Compared with the time-frequency resource information, the time-frequency resource information index occupies less data. For example, the 2-bit time-frequency resource information index can distinguish four different time-frequency resource information.

Step 94: The base station sends the indication signaling to the UE, where the indication signaling carries the time-frequency resource information index. For a description of the time-frequency resource information, please refer to the description in the previous embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the indication signaling is an RRC message. In the LTE network, the indication signaling in the form of the RRC message can be sent to the UE through the SIB or the MIB. For the time-frequency resources occupied by the SIB or the MIB, refer to the relevant standard documents. In the NR network in question, the indication signaling in the form of RRC message can also be sent to the UE through the MIB or the RMSI, where the MIB can be transmitted through the PBCH, and the RMSI can be transmitted through the PBCH or the PDCCH; the indication signaling in the form of the RRC message is also The OSI may be transmitted to the UE through the remaining system information, and the OSI may be transmitted through the PDSCH.

For the UE, the UE receives the indication instruction sent by the base station, where the indication signaling carries the time-frequency resource information index. The UE searches for the time-frequency resource information corresponding to the time-frequency resource information index from the stored index table, where the time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource. The UE receives the downlink reference signal by using the time-frequency resource indicated by the time-frequency resource information, and performs measurement on the received downlink reference signal, and reports the measurement result to the base station.

Optionally, the indication signaling carries not only time-frequency resource information but also an identifier of the neighboring cell. Please refer to the detailed description of step 44 in FIG.

In the method for transmitting a reference signal provided by the embodiment of the present application, the base station UE pre-stores an index table, and when the base station to which the serving cell belongs is notified to the neighboring cell or the UE, the time-frequency resource can be carried in the notification message or the command information. Frequency resource information index. Since the data amount of the time-frequency resource information index is much smaller than the time-frequency resource information, the transmission resources between the base stations can be saved compared with the display notification manner, and the air interface resources between the base station and the UE can be saved, thereby further improving resource utilization. rate.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a network device. Illustratively, the network device is a base station. The structure and function of the network device will be described below by taking a base station as an example in conjunction with FIG. FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a base station, which serves as a base station to which a serving cell of a UE in FIG. 1 to FIG. 9 belongs, and implements a serving cell of a UE in each embodiment shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. The function of the base station. As shown in FIG. 10, the base station includes a transceiver 101 and a processor 102.

Alternatively, the transceiver 101 may be referred to as a remote radio unit (RRU), a transceiver unit, a transceiver, or a transceiver circuit or the like. The transceiver 101 can include at least one antenna 1011 and a radio frequency unit 1012. The transceiver 101 can be used for transceiving radio frequency signals and converting radio frequency signals with baseband signals.

Optionally, the base station includes one or more baseband units (abbreviation: BBUs) 103. The baseband unit includes a processor 102. The baseband unit 103 is mainly used for baseband processing such as channel coding, multiplexing, modulation, spread spectrum, etc., and control of the base station. The transceiver 101 and the baseband unit 103 may be physically disposed together or physically separated, that is, distributed base stations.

In one example, the baseband unit 103 may be composed of one or more single boards, and multiple boards may jointly support a single access system radio access network, or may separately support different access systems. The baseband unit 103 includes a processor 101. The processor 102 can be used to control the network device to perform corresponding operations in the foregoing method embodiments. Optionally, baseband unit 103 may also include a memory 104 for storing the necessary instructions and data.

The transceiver 101 is configured to send a downlink reference signal of the serving cell to the UE, and receive a measurement result of the downlink reference signal sent by the UE to the serving cell.

The processor 102 is configured to determine, according to the measurement result, whether a predetermined handover preparation condition is met.

The transceiver 101 is further configured to: when a predetermined handover preparation condition is met, notify a neighboring cell to send a downlink reference signal to the UE by using the configured time-frequency resource, where the neighboring cell does not need to go to the location before being notified. Transmitting, by the UE, a downlink reference signal; and informing the UE to receive a downlink reference signal by using a time-frequency resource configured by the base station.

Optionally, the transceiver 101 notifies the neighboring cell to send the downlink reference signal to the UE by using the configured time-frequency resource, and the UE is notified to use the time-frequency resource configured by the base station to receive the downlink reference signal. The description in the examples, especially the related description of Figures 4 to 9, will not be repeated here.

An embodiment of the present application provides a network device that is a base station, where the network device is a base station to which a serving cell of the UE belongs. The base station receives a measurement result of a downlink reference signal sent by the UE to the serving cell of the UE. When the base station confirms that the predetermined handover preparation condition is met according to the measurement result, the neighboring cell is notified to use the time-frequency resource configured by the base station to send a downlink reference signal to the UE, and notifies the UE to receive the downlink reference signal by using the time-frequency resource configured by the base station. . The neighboring cell does not need to send a downlink reference signal to the UE before obtaining the foregoing notification by the base station to which the serving cell belongs, and may use the configured resource to transmit other data. Therefore, the time-frequency resource used by the network side to send the downlink reference signal to the UE is saved, and the utilization of the air interface resource is improved.

Optionally, after the neighboring cell sends the downlink reference signal to the UE by using the time-frequency resource configured by the base station for a period of time, the network side may reclaim the configured time-frequency resource by using a specific mechanism, so that the network side can re-use the configured time. The frequency resource sends service data to the UE, thereby improving resource utilization. For the manner of specifically recovering the configured time-frequency resources, please refer to the description in FIG. 2.

For the first way to reclaim the configured time-frequency resources,

The transceiver 101 is further configured to receive, by the UE, a measurement result obtained by measuring, by the UE, a downlink reference signal received by the configured time-frequency resource; and receiving, by the UE, a downlink received by the configured time-frequency resource. And measuring, by the reference signal, the neighboring cell to stop using the configured time-frequency resource to send a downlink reference signal to the UE.

Specifically, the processor 102 determines, according to the measurement result obtained by the UE received by the transceiver 101 on the downlink reference signal received by the configured time-frequency resource, whether the resource reclaim condition is met. If the resource reclaim condition is met, the transceiver 101 notifies the neighboring cell to stop using the configured time-frequency resource to send a downlink reference signal to the UE.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a network device. Illustratively, the network device is a base station. The structure and function of the network device will be described below by taking a base station as an example with reference to FIG. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a base station, which serves as a base station to which a serving cell of a UE in FIG. 1 to FIG. 9 belongs, and has a serving cell in an embodiment of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. The function of the base station to which it belongs. As shown in FIG. 11, the base station includes a transceiver unit 111 and a processing unit 112. The transceiver unit 111 and the processing unit 112 may be implemented in software or in hardware. In the case of a hardware implementation, the transceiver unit 111 can be the transceiver 101 of FIG. 10, which can be the processor 102 of FIG.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a UE. It should be understood that the UE may be the UE in each of the foregoing method embodiments, and may have any function of the UE in each method embodiment. FIG. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a UE, which functions as a UE in FIG. 1 to FIG. 9 to implement the functions of the UE shown in one embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 9. As shown in FIG. 12, the base station includes a processor 121 and a transceiver 122.

Optionally, the transceiver 122 can include a control circuit and an antenna, wherein the control circuit can be used for converting baseband signals and radio frequency signals and processing the radio frequency signals, and the antenna can be used to transmit and receive radio frequency signals.

Optionally, the device may also include other major components of the terminal device, such as memory, input and output devices, and the like.

The processor 121 can be used to process the communication protocol and the communication data, and to control the entire terminal device, execute the software program, and process the data of the software program, for example, to support the terminal device to perform the corresponding operations in the foregoing method embodiments. The memory 123 is mainly used to store software programs and data. After the terminal device is powered on, the processor 121 can read the software program in the memory, interpret and execute the instructions of the software program, and process the data of the software program.

In an embodiment, the processor 121 is configured to determine, according to a notification by the base station, a time-frequency resource configured by the base station, where the base station is a base station to which the serving cell of the UE belongs.

The transceiver 122 is configured to receive a downlink reference signal by using a time-frequency resource configured by the base station.

The UE provided by the embodiment of the present application receives the downlink reference signal sent by the neighboring cell on the configured time-frequency resource according to the notification of the base station to which the serving cell belongs. In conjunction with the network device, the time-frequency resource used by the network side to transmit the downlink reference signal to the UE can be saved, and the utilization of the air interface resource is improved. The UE can receive the downlink reference signal by using the time-frequency resource configured by the base station according to the notification of the base station to which the serving cell belongs, thereby improving the pertinence of receiving the downlink reference signal, and contributing to saving the energy consumption of the UE.

Optionally, how the processor 121 determines the specific mode and implementation details of the time-frequency resource configured by the base station according to the notification of the base station received by the transceiver 122, refer to the description in the foregoing method embodiment, especially FIG. The related description to FIG. 9 will be briefly described herein.

In an embodiment, the transceiver 122 is configured to receive the indication signaling sent by the base station on a physical channel other than the PBCH of the serving cell, where the indication signaling carries the time-frequency resource Information, the time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource.

The processor 121 is configured to determine, according to the time-frequency resource information, a time-frequency resource configured by the base station.

In another embodiment, the transceiver 122 is configured to receive time-frequency resource information sent by the base station in a PBCH of the serving cell, where the time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource.

In another embodiment, the transceiver 122 is configured to receive, in a PBCH of the serving cell, part of information in time-frequency resource information sent by the base station; and in other physical fields except the PBCH of the serving cell. On the channel, the indication signaling sent by the base station is received, where the indication signaling carries the remaining information except the partial information in the time-frequency resource information.

The processor 121 is configured to perform a combining process on the partial information in the time-frequency resource information and the remaining information except the partial information in the time-frequency resource information, and determine that the merge processing result is the time-frequency resource information. And the time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource; and the time-frequency resource configured by the base station is determined according to the time-frequency resource information.

In another embodiment, the transceiver 122 is configured to perform a blind check on the PBCH of the serving cell to determine whether the PBCH is scrambled.

The processor 121 is configured to descramble the scrambled PBCH if the PBCH is scrambled, determine that the descrambling result is a pseudo-random sequence, and decode the pseudo-random sequence to determine a decoding result. The time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource; and the time-frequency resource configured by the base station is determined according to the time-frequency resource information.

The processor 121 is configured to descramble the scrambled PBCH if the PBCH is scrambled, determine that the descrambling result is a pseudo-random sequence, and decode the pseudo-random sequence to determine a decoding result. Part of the information in the time-frequency resource information.

The transceiver 122 is further configured to obtain the indication signaling sent by the descrambled PBCH, where the indication signaling carries the remaining information except the partial information in the time-frequency resource information.

The processor 121 is further configured to perform a combining process on the partial information in the time-frequency resource information and the remaining information except the partial information in the time-frequency resource information, to determine that the merge processing result is the time Frequency resource information, the time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource; and the time-frequency resource configured by the base station is determined according to the time-frequency resource information.

In another embodiment, the transceiver 122 is configured to receive an indication instruction sent by the base station, where the indication signaling carries the time-frequency resource information index.

The processor 121 is configured to search for the time-frequency resource information corresponding to the time-frequency resource information index from the stored index table, where the time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource.

In another embodiment, the processor 121 is further configured to perform measurement on the downlink reference signal received on the configured time-frequency resource, and report the measurement result to the base station.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a UE. It should be understood that the UE may be the UE in each of the foregoing method embodiments, and may have any function of the UE in each method embodiment. FIG. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a UE, which functions as a UE in FIG. 1 to FIG. 9 to implement the functions of the UE shown in one embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 9. As shown in FIG. 13, the base station processing unit 131 and the transceiver unit 132. The processing unit 131 and the transceiver unit 132 may be implemented in software or in hardware. In the case of a hardware implementation, the processing unit 131 may be the processor 121 of FIG. 12, which may be the transceiver 112 of FIG.

The embodiment of the present invention further provides a communication system, including the base station and the UE to which the serving cell of the UE in the foregoing embodiment belongs. For the functions of the base station and the UE, and the detailed process of mutual information interaction, please refer to the description in the previous embodiment.

A person skilled in the art can clearly understand that for the convenience and brevity of the description, the specific working process of the system, the device and the unit described above can refer to the corresponding process in the foregoing method embodiment, and details are not described herein again.

In the above embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, it may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in accordance with embodiments of the present invention are generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transferred from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions can be from a website site, computer, server or data center Transfer to another website site, computer, server, or data center by wire (eg, coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless (eg, infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer readable storage medium can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, or the like that includes one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (such as a solid state disk (SSD)).

The above is only a specific embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present invention. It should be covered by the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

A method for transmitting a reference signal, comprising:

Receiving, by the base station, a measurement result of a downlink reference signal sent by the UE to the serving cell of the UE, where the base station is a base station to which the serving cell belongs;

Determining, by the base station, whether a predetermined handover preparation condition is met according to the measurement result;

If the predetermined handover preparation condition is met, the base station notifies the neighboring cell to send a downlink reference signal to the UE by using the time-frequency resource configured by the base station, and the neighboring cell does not need to send a downlink reference signal to the UE before being notified. ,as well as

The base station notifies the UE to receive a downlink reference signal by using a time-frequency resource configured by the base station.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the notifying a neighboring cell to send a downlink reference signal to the UE by using a time-frequency resource configured by the base station includes:

The base station sends a notification message to the neighboring cell, where the notification message carries the time-frequency resource information, and the time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource.
The method according to claim 2, wherein the base station notifies the UE to receive a downlink reference signal by using a time-frequency resource configured by the base station, including:

The base station sends the indication signaling to the UE by using a physical channel other than the physical broadcast channel of the serving cell, where the indication signaling carries the time-frequency resource information.
The method according to claim 2, wherein the base station notifies the UE to receive a downlink reference signal by using a time-frequency resource configured by the base station, including:

The base station notifies the UE of the time-frequency resource information by using a physical broadcast channel of the serving cell.
The method according to claim 2, wherein the base station notifies the UE to receive a downlink reference signal by using a time-frequency resource configured by the base station, including:

And the base station notifies the UE of the partial information in the time-frequency resource information by using a physical broadcast channel of the serving cell;

The base station sends the indication signaling to the UE by using a physical channel other than the physical broadcast channel, where the indication signaling carries the remaining information except the partial information in the time-frequency resource information.
The method according to claim 2, wherein the base station notifies the UE to receive a downlink reference signal by using a time-frequency resource configured by the base station, including:

The base station encodes the time-frequency resource information to obtain a coding result;

Inputting the encoded result into a shift register to obtain a pseudo random sequence;

The physical broadcast channel of the serving cell is scrambled using the pseudo random sequence.
The method according to claim 2, wherein the base station notifies the UE to receive a downlink reference signal by using a time-frequency resource configured by the base station, including:

The base station encodes the time-frequency resource information to obtain a coding result;

The base station inputs part of the information in the coding result into a shift register to obtain a pseudo random sequence;

And the base station notifies the UE of the coding result by using a physical broadcast channel of the serving cell, and the remaining information except the part of the information, and scrambling the physical broadcast channel by using the pseudo random sequence.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the notifying a neighboring cell to send a downlink reference signal to the UE by using a time-frequency resource configured by the base station includes:

The base station sends a notification message to the neighboring cell, where the notification message carries a time-frequency resource information index, where the time-frequency resource information index is used to search for a corresponding frequency resource information index from a pre-stored index table. The time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource.
The method according to claim 8, wherein the base station notifies the UE to receive a downlink reference signal by using a time-frequency resource configured by the base station, including:

The base station sends the indication signaling to the UE, where the indication signaling carries the time-frequency resource information index.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein after the base station notifies the UE to receive the downlink reference signal by using the time-frequency resource configured by the base station, the base station further includes:

Receiving, by the base station, a measurement result obtained by measuring, by the UE, a downlink reference signal received by the configured time-frequency resource;

The base station notifies the neighboring cell to stop sending the downlink to the UE by using the configured time-frequency resource according to the measurement result obtained by the UE measuring the downlink reference signal received by the configured time-frequency resource. Reference signal.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the time-frequency resource information includes time domain resource information, frequency domain resource information, and valid time information, and the valid time information is used to indicate the base station configuration. The time-frequency resource is used to send a downlink reference signal. When the end time of the valid time period is reached, the neighboring cell stops using the configured time-frequency resource to send a downlink reference signal to the UE.
A method for receiving a reference signal, comprising:

The user equipment UE determines the time-frequency resource configured by the base station according to the notification of the base station, where the base station is a base station to which the serving cell of the UE belongs;

The downlink reference signal is received by using the time-frequency resource configured by the base station.
The method according to claim 12, wherein the determining, by the UE, the time-frequency resources configured by the base station according to the notification of the base station, includes:

The UE receives the indication signaling sent by the base station on a physical channel other than the physical broadcast channel of the serving cell, where the indication signaling carries the time-frequency resource information, and the time-frequency resource The information is used to indicate the time-frequency resource of the configuration.
The method according to claim 12, wherein the UE determines the time-frequency resources configured by the base station according to the notification of the base station, including:

The UE receives time-frequency resource information sent by the base station in a physical physical broadcast channel of the serving cell, where the time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource.
The method according to claim 12, wherein the UE determines the time-frequency resources configured by the base station according to the notification of the base station, including:

Receiving, by the UE, part of the information in the time-frequency resource information sent by the base station in a physical broadcast channel of the serving cell;

The UE receives the indication signaling sent by the base station on a physical channel other than the physical broadcast channel of the serving cell, where the indication signaling carries the part of the time-frequency resource information The rest of the information;

The UE performs a combining process on the partial information in the time-frequency resource information and the remaining information except the partial information in the time-frequency resource information, and determines that the merge processing result is the time-frequency resource information, The time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource.
The method according to claim 12, wherein the UE determines the time-frequency resources configured by the base station according to the notification of the base station, including:

Performing a blind check on a physical physical broadcast channel of the serving cell to determine whether the physical physical broadcast channel is scrambled;

If the physical physical broadcast channel is scrambled, descrambling the scrambled physical physical broadcast channel to determine that the descrambling result is a pseudo-random sequence;

The pseudo-random sequence is decoded to determine the decoding result as the time-frequency resource information, and the time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource.
The method according to claim 12, wherein the UE determines the time-frequency resources configured by the base station according to the notification of the base station, including:

Performing a blind check on a physical physical broadcast channel of the serving cell to determine whether the physical physical broadcast channel is scrambled;

If the physical physical broadcast channel is scrambled, descrambling the scrambled physical physical broadcast channel to determine that the descrambling result is a pseudo-random sequence;

Decoding the pseudo random sequence, and determining that the decoding result is part of the information in the time-frequency resource information;

Acquiring the indication signaling sent in the descrambled physical physical broadcast channel, where the indication signaling carries the remaining information except the partial information in the time-frequency resource information;

The UE performs a combining process on the partial information in the time-frequency resource information and the remaining information except the partial information in the time-frequency resource information, and determines that the merge processing result is the time-frequency resource information, The time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource.
The method according to claim 12, wherein the UE determines the time-frequency resources configured by the base station according to the notification of the base station, including:

Receiving an indication instruction sent by the base station, where the indication signaling carries the time-frequency resource information index;

The time-frequency resource information corresponding to the time-frequency resource information index is searched from the stored index table, where the time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource.
A base station, where the base station is a base station to which a serving cell of a UE belongs, wherein the base station includes a transceiver and a processor,

The transceiver is configured to receive a measurement result of a downlink reference signal sent by the UE to the serving cell;

The processor, configured to determine, according to the measurement result, whether a predetermined handover preparation condition is met;

The transceiver is further configured to: when a predetermined handover preparation condition is met, notify a neighboring cell to send a downlink reference signal to the UE by using the configured time-frequency resource, where the neighboring cell does not need to report to the The UE sends a downlink reference signal;

Notifying the UE to receive a downlink reference signal by using a time-frequency resource configured by the base station.
The base station according to claim 19, characterized in that

The transceiver is configured to send a notification message to the neighboring cell, where the notification message carries the time-frequency resource information, where the time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource.
The base station according to claim 20, characterized in that

The transceiver is configured to send indication signaling to the UE by using a physical channel other than the physical broadcast channel, where the indication signaling carries the time-frequency resource information.
The base station according to claim 20, characterized in that

The transceiver is configured to notify the UE of the time-frequency resource information by using a physical broadcast channel of the serving cell.
The base station according to claim 20, characterized in that

The transceiver is configured to notify part of the time-frequency resource information of the UE by using a physical broadcast channel of the serving cell, and send an indication to the UE by using a physical channel other than the physical broadcast channel. Signaling, the indication signaling carries the remaining information in the time-frequency resource information except the partial information.
The base station according to claim 20, characterized in that

The processor is configured to encode the time-frequency resource information to obtain a coding result, and input the coding result into a shift register to obtain a pseudo-random sequence;

The transceiver scrambles a physical broadcast channel of the serving cell using the pseudo random sequence.
The base station according to claim 20, characterized in that

The processor is configured to encode the time-frequency resource information to obtain a coding result; the base station inputs part of the information in the coding result into a shift register to obtain a pseudo-random sequence;

The transceiver is configured to notify, by using a physical broadcast channel of the serving cell, the information about the coding result of the UE, except for the partial information, and add the physical broadcast channel by using the pseudo random sequence. Disturb.
The base station according to claim 19, characterized in that

The transceiver is configured to send a notification message to the neighboring cell, where the notification message carries an index of time-frequency resource information, where the time-frequency resource information index is used to search for a frequency resource from a pre-stored index table. The time-frequency resource information corresponding to the information index, the time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource.
The base station according to claim 26, characterized in that

The transceiver is further configured to send indication signaling to the UE, where the indication signaling carries the time-frequency resource information index.
A base station according to any one of claims 19 to 27, characterized in that

The transceiver is further configured to receive, by the UE, a measurement result obtained by measuring, by the UE, a downlink reference signal received by the configured time-frequency resource; and receiving, according to the UE, the time-frequency resource received in the configuration And measuring, by the downlink reference signal, the neighboring cell to stop using the configured time-frequency resource to send a downlink reference signal to the UE.
The base station according to any one of claims 19 to 27, wherein the time-frequency resource information includes time domain resource information, frequency domain resource information, and valid time information, and the valid time information is used to indicate the base station configuration. The time-frequency resource is used to send a downlink reference signal. When the end time of the valid time period is reached, the neighboring cell stops using the configured time-frequency resource to send a downlink reference signal to the UE.
A user equipment UE, characterized by comprising a transceiver and a processor,

The processor is configured to determine, according to a notification by the base station, a time-frequency resource configured by the base station, where the base station is a base station to which the serving cell of the UE belongs;

The transceiver is configured to receive a downlink reference signal by using a time-frequency resource configured by the base station.
The UE according to claim 30, characterized in that

The transceiver is configured to receive indication signaling sent by the base station on a physical channel other than a physical broadcast channel of the serving cell, where the indication signaling carries the time-frequency resource information, where The time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource;

The processor is configured to determine a time-frequency resource configured by the base station according to the time-frequency resource information.
The UE according to claim 30, characterized in that

The transceiver is configured to receive time-frequency resource information sent by the base station in a physical physical broadcast channel of the serving cell, where the time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource;

The processor is configured to determine a time-frequency resource configured by the base station according to the time-frequency resource information.
The UE according to claim 30, characterized in that

The transceiver is configured to receive, in a physical broadcast channel of the serving cell, part of information in time-frequency resource information sent by the base station; and on a physical channel other than a physical broadcast channel of the serving cell Receiving the indication signaling sent by the base station, where the indication signaling carries the remaining information except the part of the information in the time-frequency resource information;

The processor is configured to perform a combining process on the partial information in the time-frequency resource information and the remaining information except the partial information in the time-frequency resource information, and determine that the merge processing result is the time-frequency resource Information, the time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource;

Determining a time-frequency resource configured by the base station according to the time-frequency resource information.
The UE according to claim 30, characterized in that

The transceiver is configured to perform a blind check on a physical physical broadcast channel of the serving cell to determine whether the physical broadcast channel is scrambled;

The processor is configured to descramble the scrambled physical broadcast channel if the physical broadcast channel is scrambled, and determine that the descrambling result is a pseudo-random sequence;

Decoding the pseudo-random sequence, determining that the decoding result is the time-frequency resource information, where the time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource;

Determining a time-frequency resource configured by the base station according to the time-frequency resource information.
The UE according to claim 30, characterized in that

The transceiver is configured to perform blind detection on a physical broadcast channel of the serving cell to determine whether the physical broadcast channel is scrambled;

The processor, configured to descramble the scrambled physical broadcast channel if the physical broadcast channel is scrambled, determine that the descrambling result is a pseudo-random sequence, and decode the pseudo-random sequence, Determining that the decoding result is part of the information in the time-frequency resource information;

The transceiver is further configured to obtain the indication signaling sent by the descrambled physical broadcast channel, where the indication signaling carries the remaining information except the partial information in the time-frequency resource information. ;

The processor is configured to perform a combining process on the partial information in the time-frequency resource information and the remaining information except the partial information in the time-frequency resource information, and determine that the merge processing result is the time-frequency resource Information, the time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource;

Determining a time-frequency resource configured by the base station according to the time-frequency resource information.
The UE according to claim 30, characterized in that

The transceiver is configured to receive an indication instruction sent by the base station, where the indication signaling carries the time-frequency resource information index;

The processor is configured to search for the time-frequency resource information corresponding to the time-frequency resource information index from the stored index table, where the time-frequency resource information is used to indicate the configured time-frequency resource.